[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 64 (Tuesday, May 19, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E884-E885]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               CONGRATULATIONS TO THE SPRECKELS SUGAR CO.

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. GEORGE P. RADANOVICH

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 19, 1998

  Mr. RADANOVICH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Spreckels 
Sugar Company as they celebrate their centennial anniversary. The 
Spreckels family has created an important sugar company with the kind 
of hard work and determination it takes to succeed in the business 
world. This family-owned business has made a tremendous impact on both 
the business and agricultural community. Their efforts in the sugar 
industry, combined with years of exceptional service, make the 
Spreckels Sugar Company deserving of this recognition.
  Sugar and sugar beet history run deep in the annals of California. 
The first successful

[[Page E885]]

sugar beet processing plant in California was built in 1870 in 
Alvarado. The second plant was built in Watsonville in 1888. The 
Watsonville plant was eventually dismantled and became part of the 
world's largest beet processing plant of its time. This plant, built by 
Claus Spreckels, was the beginning of Spreckels Sugar Company. The 
plant was built in the town bearing the Spreckels' family name in the 
fertile Salinas Valley.
  Claus Spreckels died nine years after the opening of the Spreckels 
factory. At this point his sons, John D. and A.B. Spreckels, took the 
reins of the company. They followed in the footsteps of their father 
and planned the expansion of the Spreckels Sugar Company to meet the 
sugar requirements of California's rapidly growing population. In time, 
they expanded to sell sugar to both the East and West Coasts.
  The Mendota plant, where Spreckels' 100-year celebration is being 
held, was the past plant built in California, in 1963.
  Historically, the Mendota factory has operated from the time fields 
dried in the spring (March or April) until the ``spring crop'' is 
harvested. Following a short shutdown in June, the factory is restarted 
in July and March through October without a shutdown, producing over 
2,000,000 cwt. sugar per year, processing approximately 735,000 tons of 
sugar beets.
  The San Joaquin Valley has been the primary source of the Mendota 
factory's beet supply, with this exception of several occasions when 
beets were shipped by rail from the Imperial Valley. Additionally, the 
San Joaquin Valley has been the source of beets for the other 
California Spreckels factories during the summer months. Millions of 
tons of beets have been shipped over the years by rail and truck to 
Spreckels, California (near Salinas), Manteca, and Woodland and to this 
day are still being shipped to Tracy and Woodland.
  In January 1996, Spreckels Sugar Company was purchased by Imperial 
Holly Corporation. The Woodland, Tracy, Mendota, and Brawley plants in 
California are now part of the Imperial Holly family and are known as 
Spreckels Sugar Company, a division of Holly Sugar Corporation. 
Imperial's purchase of Savannah Sugar in October of last year makes 
Spreckels a part of the largest sugar refiner, processor, and marketer 
in the United States.
  Mr. Speaker, it is with great honor that I congratulate Spreckels 
Sugar Company as they celebrate their centennial anniversary. I applaud 
their years of exceptional service and commitment to the Sugar Beet 
industry. Spreckels shows just how successful a small family owned 
business can become with hard work and determination. I ask my 
colleagues to join me in wishing the Spreckels Sugar Company many more 
years of success.

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